Rocky Tuan, director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering and professor and executive vice chairman for orthopaedic research at the university’s School of Medicine, has used a novel 3D printing method to create the first example of living human cartilage grown on a laboratory chip. (Source: University of Pittsburgh)

Thanks, bobjengr. Sorry to hear about your malady. But who knows, you may benefit from this! I think I mentioned it in a post before but I also can feel the cartilage in my knees, ankles and wrists weakening and dissipating now that I am in my 40s, so I may need this type of treatment as well down the line.

Oh no, that's unfortunate. :( Well considering his age, he may some day be able to benefit from this technology one day. I hope for his sake it and others similar that will help restore cartilage and ease these type of conditions are finalized and approved sooner rather than later.

Literally two days after I posted my earlier comment, my son injured his knee yet again, and is now looking at a fourth surgery. I told him about this article, and we're both hoping this technology will make it to the medical market in the next few years. Thanks for writing this article, Liz. I'm sure there are many other people who can benefit from this.

Fascinating post Elizabeth. I'm running a little late on this one but it's great information. I suffer from osteoarthritis in my right hip, resulting from road races I've participated in over the past three decades. I'm now paying the price for all of the pavement pounding. I have, so far, been able to forestall a hip replacement but my day is coming. Maybe, just maybe, this development could result in pain relief without the replacement. Again, great post and very informative.

Better late than never, Chuck. Thanks for the real-world perspective. It definitely sounds like the technology I've covered could solve those potential rejection issues. I myself am starting to feel the wear in my cartilage so find this type of thing a welcome breakthrough as well. I hope all goes well with your son!

I'm sorry I somehow missed this story when it originally appeared. This is a godsend for many people who need knee cartilage. One of my sons has had three knee operations due to sports injuries, and was told after the third surgery that his next operation will require the use of cadaver cartilage, which can have rejection issues. If a stereolithography technique can be used to build cartilage, I can only presume it wouldn't have those same rejection issues. There must be tens of thousands of people who could benefit from this.

But if we are investing money in medical Apps of smart phones it doubles our benefit . It is not only helpfull for our medications but also enhnaces , improves our technological skills side by side with medical skills as well.

But if we are investing money in medical Apps of smart phones it doubles our benefit . It is not only helpfull for our medications but also enhnaces , improves our technological skills side by side with medical skills as well.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Kaspersky Labs indicated at its February meeting that cyber attacks are far more sophisticated than previous thought. It turns out even air-gapping (disconnecting computers from the Internet to protect against cyber intrusion) isn’t a foolproof way to avoid getting hacked. And Kaspersky implied the NSA is the smartest attacker.

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